EU diplomats visit West Bank school slated for demolition

By JELAL HASSAN and JOSEPH KRAUSS
Associated Press

KAFR MALIK, West Bank (AP) — European representatives have visited a small schoolhouse serving an impoverished Bedouin community in the occupied West Bank that is under threat of demolition by Israel. The EU funds such construction in order to help Palestinians maintain their presence in the 60% of the West Bank under full Israeli control, where the military routinely demolishes homes and other structures built without hard-to-obtain permits. The EU representative who led the delegation says it’s “entirely unacceptable for the authorities of Israel to destroy this and demolish that.” The schoolhouse was built in January and currently serves 17 students. There was no comment from COGAT, the Israeli military body responsible for civilian affairs in the West Bank.